The Risk Evaluation and Education for Alzheimer's Disease (REVEAL) Study is an ongoing, multi-site research project that is designed to evaluate the psychological and behavioral impact of genetic risk assessment with disclosure of APOE, a susceptibility polymorphism for Alzheimer's disease. In the first funding cycle of the REVEAL Study, we developed a novel risk assessment methodology and conducted a randomized clinical trial in which 162 first degree relatives of patients with AD received genetic risk assessment with or without APOE disclosure.

Clinicians and patients often seek to determine the cause of disease, particularly when they believe that knowing the cause will affect management. Both scientific and public media, with their focus on genetics and the promise of individualized medicine, have heightened expectations that greater understanding of genetic information will improve health outcome.